What could be better in the stormy weather that has plagued Northern California than a bowl of soup, chock-full of beans and tomatoes and a batch of other good-for-you vegetables?

Ex-pat San Franciscan Ron Castersen had messaged from his home in Florida that he had fond memories of the thick minestrone dished up at Mike's Pool Hall on lower Broadway and wondered if anybody had their recipe.

And sure enough, readers Sylvia Cunningham of Alameda and Nancy Herbert of Piedmont dug it up in a 1963 book of San Francisco restaurant recipes by Doris Muscatine. The writer adjusted the recipes because the original produced 40 gallons of soup. In the proper early 1960s, the pool hall was referred to as a billiard parlor, but the minestrone sounds the real, earthy thing -- time-consuming and gut-pleasing.

Castersen wrote that he believes the pool hall was replaced by a topless joint, but at least now he can enjoy a near bottomless bowl of that long-remembered soup.

New Requests: Frances Hutchings, who lives in Mi Wuk Village in the Sierra, wonders if anybody knows what made the barbecue sauce at the small Stickney's restaurant chain on the Peninsula so extra delicious.

Another specialty of old is on the mind of Linda West, who longs for the pizza served at Santini's on El Camino in San Mateo. She describes it as "simple and straightforward -- no chicken, tofu, etc."

Ellen Anderson wants a recipe for a peanut butter dressing for an Asian noodle salad that doesn't include cilantro. "Love these salads, but can't stand cilantro," she says.

P.S. Anne Porter-Roth of Mill Valley was one of several readers who messaged that the Sultana cookies Maryelizabeth was trying to find are carried by Vermont Country Store (www.vermontcountrystore.com) as Raisin Biscuits.

This was sent by Sylvia Cunningham of Alameda, who says it's from "A Cook's Tour of San Francisco," by Doris Muscatine, who adapted the restaurant recipe for home use.

INGREDIENTS:

3 ounces barley

5 ounces split peas

5 ounces dried lima beans

5 ounces dried red beans

6 celery stalks, chopped

6 chard leaves, chopped

1/4 small head of cabbage, shredded

1 leek (white and light green parts only), well washed and chopped

5 ounces salt pork, chopped fine

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

2 cups solid-pack tomatoes

1 cup tomato puree

2 tablespoons salt, or to taste

1 teaspoon pepper, or to taste

2 tablespoons dried basil

Assortment of squash, eggplant and spinach, sliced

3 ounces dried macaroni

Freshly grated Parmesan

INSTRUCTIONS:

Rinse barley and peas. Boil in 2 quarts of water for 1 hour. Rinse lima beans. Boil in 1 quart of water for 1 hour; mash. Rinse red beans. Boil in 6 cups of water for 1 hour and 15 minutes; drain and reserve. To barley and split pea mixture, add celery and chard, cabbage, leek and 1 quart water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low.